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A Top Gear film shoot in the wilds of Argentina ended in a dramatic escape. Jeremy Clarkson reveals how he hid under a bed from an armed mob baying for his blood
Jeremy Clarkson Published: 5 October 2014
IT ALL started to go wrong while we were filming on a mountain in the world’s southernmost ski resort, just outside the city of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego.
We knew Ushuaia was the port from which the General Belgrano had sailed on its doomed voyage at the start of the Falklands War and we knew that anti-British feelings still run hard and deep, here at the bottom of the world.
As a result we were on our best behaviour. We were posing for all photographs, and happily accepting requests for autographs. The sun was out. All was calm. We were even referring to the slopes as “gradients”. Certainly there was no suggestion that we had walked into the middle of a war we thought had ended 32 years ago.
But then came word from the bottom of the mountain. Some protesters had arrived and were keen to let everyone......
Didn't people throw rocks at them when they did that first USA special down in the south?
Yeah, but they did sort of stage the USA part/tried to incite people. This time around they say they honestly didn't do anything to try to rile people up.
A message for viewers from Top Gear boss Andy Wilman on the whole number plate escapade
If you follow Top Gear in any way, shape or form, you won’t have missed the hoo-hah that’s kicked off following our recent filming in Patagonia. That’s probably the most boring opening sentence I’ve ever written for a blog, but this week isn’t the time for mirth and levity.
We’ve been accused by just about all of the press of setting out on that shoot knowing full well one of our cars was sporting a number plate that makes a nudge-nudge reference to the Falklands War: “H982 FKL” to be precise.
As a consequence, therefore, we got the stoning that we deserved when we were chased out of Ushuaia, a city where bitter feelings about the Falklands War run strong and deep.
As it happens, we didn’t put that number plate on deliberately – Jeremy has said so in print, James has said so on the radio, and Richard will be saying so on the radio again next week. Sadly I doubt their words will make one iota of difference to the newspapers, because our guilt is a lot more newsworthy than our innocence. In truth, though, the four of us and the rest of the team are much more concerned about what our audience believes.
I’ve read quite a few comments from viewers who are equally convinced we put the plate on deliberately, and I can understand that. We are, after all, a show known for getting into hot water through our antics, and now we’re protesting our innocence over this affair, we’re seen as merely crying wolf. I can also empathise with people who believe it’s exactly the sort of stunt we’d pull – cheeky number plate, wind up the locals, no harm done.
The truth is, however, this is most definitely not the sort of stunt we’d pull. For starters we would not base a joke around soldiers in conflict. Anybody who knows Top Gear knows how much work the presenters and the show does for Help For Heroes, and in our eyes soldiers are soldiers whatever the uniform.
Secondly, we set out on that trip to shoot a two-hour Christmas Special. It’s the most important film we make all year, and we would not plan such a crucial undertaking based on a number plate joke. Because, if you think about it for a moment, that’s precisely what we would have had to do.
We would have had to gather the whole team and say: “Sod what the cars are for this trip, just find one that’s registered with a number plate containing 982 and FKL.” The plate was a genuine plate, remember, not one we made up.
So our researchers would have got on the phone to the DVLA, asked them if such a car existed, and then when the DVLA came back and said, “There is, actually, on a Porsche 928,” we’d have then asked for the details of the owner.
At this point the DVLA would have refused, because that would be a contravention of the Data Protection Act (and they don’t pass on requests the other way to specific owners). So let’s say we persevere and obtain, probably illegally, the details of the owner of that car.
Then what? Then we would have to knock on his door and try and persuade him to sell us his car. And all this because we’re desperate to find a number plate with joke numbers and letters on it. It’s just nonsense beyond belief.
So let’s say we did know what cars we wanted for this shoot – V8 sports cars, as it happens. We would then be saying to the research team: “Make sure the Porsche has a number plate with that combination of numbers and letters.”
Right. Do you know how many Porsche 928GTs there were for sale when we were looking? Two or three, tops. The odds of one having the number plate we “wanted” are millions to one. The plate was genuine, remember, not one we had made up.
I explained all this to a chap from one of the national newspapers and he came back with a good question. “OK,” he said, “if it wasn’t deliberate, why didn’t you spot it and do something about it before you left the UK?”
Fair point, given we’re a car show. The fact is though, we didn’t. There were a core team of around four people in the office working on putting together the Special, and their priorities were getting the cars bought, mechanically checked for time-bombs and shipped to Argentina, with all the paperwork that endeavour requires.
On top of this they were booking crews and sorting hotels, fixers, camping, filming permits, crew travel, carnets, risk assessments, filming cars, props, mechanical back-up, the lot. Not only did they not have time to scrutinise number plates, but the eldest of the team was around six when the Falklands War broke out, so it’s not going to resonate even if they did see the plates.
As for me and the presenters, the older mob, we’re swamped with our own work too and likewise not looking at plates.
The truth is the first time we realised the plate could be a problem was on the third night of our shoot in Argentina (19 September, I believe), when Jeremy was scrolling through Twitter and spotted a comment on one of the auto fan sites, next to a photo of the plate. I remember his surprise and concern.
There are other witnesses to this fact. In fact, one of them – a mechanic we were using for the first time – has written to the Telegraph Letters page stating he saw Jeremy’s reaction and that it could have been nothing but genuine. (Weirdly, although he’s chased them, the Telegraph has so far not bothered to print his letter.)
Knowing this could be a problem, our office spoke to the local authorities in Ushuaia, the town where the war issue was most sensitive, and where we would end our trip in ten days’ time with a massive game of car football. We agreed with those authorities that the plates would be removed before we entered the town, and it was at this point – not before we left London – that we decided to get the BE11 END plates made for Jeremy’s car for the football match in the town.
Before we entered Ushuaia we duly removed the H982 FKL plates from the Porsche. For a day or two, the plate on the back said H1 VAE (the plate left there, underneath H982 FKL, from when one owner had privately registered the car). An advance party of our guys had been in there for a few days already, prepping the football game with no problem whatsoever. The local ski resort was looking forward to us filming there too.
There was nothing in the air to suggest trouble was brewing until the Argentinian veterans arrived and kicked off. We apologised that the existence of the plates earlier on would have caused offence. We explained they were now gone, and that they had not been a deliberate act. They didn’t believe us, told us to leave town or face the consequences, we did that very thing and drove into a night of violent terror.
That is how it all happened, and I would welcome the most rigorous investigation in the land to scrutinise our conduct in this affair. I probably won’t convince Damon Albarn, because he was happy to make his thoughts known before he heard our side of the story. But if I can get our point across to any one viewer, I’ll be content.
The host of one of the world's best-known television shows found himself stranded a small town in the B.C. interior this past weekend.
Jeremy Clarkson and his crew from the BBC show Top Gear — recognized by the Guinness book of World Records as the world's most widely viewed factual t.v. show — found themselves stranded in Trail, B.C. because of poor weather.
Now that torrents will be slightly more difficult to find ( FinalGear torrent locating), I am hoping that TGUK will FINALLY follow the model it's taken with Dr. Who, and broadcast on BBCA the same night as it's shown in the UK. That's all it would take for me not to torrent TGUK. They have been broadcasting it days or weeks later.
Transmission – BBC Top Gear -- Top Gear Patagonia Special: First Details
Here’s your first picture from the upcoming Top Gear Patagonia Special. And this year, this Christmas special will be broadcast at roughly the right time, too.
Jeremy, Richard and James will take a Porsche 928, Lotus Esprit and Ford Mustang through their most gruelling challenge to date: a 1600-mile trek through Patagonia to the southernmost city in the world, in order to stage an epic game of car football against Argentina.
There will be swamps, deserts, forests, beaches, and ski slopes for the three V8 sports cars to suffer. There will also be broken bones, mechanical calamities and even some cows. Plus, a climax that wasn’t really on the cards.
Part one will kick off on Saturday 27 December at 8.30pm, with part two showing on Sunday 28 December at 8pm, both on BBC Two and BBC Two HD.
10-03-2014, 11:16 AM
FinalGear torrent locating), I am hoping that TGUK will FINALLY follow the model it's taken with Dr. Who, and broadcast on BBCA the same night as it's shown in the UK. That's all it would take for me not to torrent TGUK. They have been broadcasting it days or weeks later. 
